Calls for troops at border echo previous requests

FILE - This July 21, 2014, file photo shows Gov. Rick Perry as he speaks during a news conference in the Governor's press room, in Austin, Texas. Texas. Perry was speaking to voters in Iowa as much as Texas when he deployed as many as 1,000 armed National Guard troops to the Mexican border in South Texas. The one-time and possible future presidential candidate is in the waning months of his final term as governor and appears to be considering another run for the Republican nomination. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry was speaking to voters in Iowa as much as Texas when he deployed as many as 1,000 armed National Guard troops to the Mexican border in South Texas.

The one-time and possible future presidential candidate is in the waning months of his final term as governor and appears to be considering another run for the Republican nomination.

Under the federal law, National Guard troops can enforce state laws but will be able to do little more than call immigration authorities if they encounter immigrants who successfully cross into the United States. Texas says the deployment will cost the state $12 million each month.

In early 2009, while he was running for re-election, Perry asked the Obama administration to deploy 1,000 troops along the border.